What do you get when you cross an audacious goat with mammoth bedazzling light installations? Yellow Goat Design, of course.

Yellow Goat Designs, founded in 1997, has been in Canada for a just a few years. Their innovative business is based on producing pieces of original lighting to create imposing spaces. They collaborate with architects and interior designers to create one of a kind lighting, screens and sculptural playgrounds. Their clients are located the world over and their products are installed in hotels, public spaces such as playgrounds and private residences

Lightform.ca summarizes it best with their synopsis. “…..a team of experienced lighting designers who design and build custom light installations for commercial, institutional, and hospitality projects. With a portfolio of products that ranges from cascading clusters crowning the stairway of an institution to massive 8-metre chandeliers for casinos and clubs, Yellow Goat creates entirely original and customized lighting installations based on the design needs, cost, and timeline parameters of their clients. Working with a range of materials from glass, crystal, and metals, to wicker, acrylic, mirror, and tyvek, Yellow Goat’s designs also fall under the realm of art; in fact, they often work with Art Consultants and those looking to enhance a private or public space with art.”

The flagship store for Kate Spade’s New York location which includes Yellow Goat Design lighting.

The results are stunning and innovative. But where did this business concept originate?
The was company established in Australia in 1997, on the Gold Coast, where a mecca of subtropical climes and tourist commerce predominates.

Sandra Lesko gives an insider view of Yellow Goat Design.

As Lesko indicates about their early years, “For a small Gold Coast company to be able to do all those things, I mean, you have to have vision, don’t limit yourself and you shouldn’t have to.” Despite Lesko’s reference to ‘small business’, it’s the last word that comes to mind when viewing their magnificent, glowing lighting installations which have tickled the interior design sector. Apparently ‘limit’ is not in their vocabulary either because the last few years have brought a huge change in direction for YGD when they developed a North American division and headed to Cambridge, ON.

The Yellow Goat Appears in Surprising Ways

A golden goat logo, brimming with attitude, has donned hats for Hallowe’en, adorned cookies and danced across their Pinterest page. As their mascot, the yellow goat icon has injected humour and a dash of fun is a great way to garner some attention and develop company personality online.

‘As It is in Heaven’ Installation

Company personality can also be developed on a range of social media sites. In fact, Yellow Goat Design has taken social media and fully embraced it. Now that we have a better grasp on what YGD is all about, we can better understand why they participate in multiple social media sites. To have a plentiful social media sites is one thing, but insightful, frequent posting is another. YGD regularly participates in a number of platforms including Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Their clientele is largely B2B, however, they needed to develop a following in social media that would include fans, followers, subscribers and potential clients. How did they get these contacts to take action? They create conversation on their Facebook page, and numerous open invitations to their trade shows. This makes them approachable and solidifies a fresh connection into a viable, profitable relationship.

In an candid interview with Nicola Casale, Design and Marketing, she was able to clarify YGD efforts in collecting social media feedback. “We are developing and implementing programs now that provide inbound marketing. Being on several social media platforms is not enough.”

Nicola Casale, Design and Marketing with Yellow Goat Design

To truly gain a clear sense of what the social media efforts are garnering in regards to revenue for input, there are a couple of options, as Casale indicated. Take for instance Klout. Its an analytic service that scores the effectiveness of a company’s social media reach. If stretching to attain the most contacts is your goal, then Klout delivers. In fact, they measure various data from a number of social networks, and other sources such as Wikipedia and Bing. They then take and apply this to their Klout Score algorithm and the result it is a number for a company’s profile. If the number is high, 100 being the highest, then it shows a more effective, influential reach. Upwards of 200,000 businesses use Klaut, which illustrates that this service is more than just a flash in the pan. Or is it?

“Social media has involved metrics from the beginning: comments, Technorati rankings, numbers of Twitter followers. These have always been visible measures of how big a fish one might be in the social media pond.

When Klout emerged, however, in 2008, it was something new. It was one of the first tools to measure both reach — how many people you influence — and scale — how much you influence them. Klout’s algorithms also take into account the influence of those you influence. Meaning, on the surface, if you engage with leaders in your community or little corner of the Internet, you yourself are more likely to exert leadership influence.”

Sage goes further to indicate that Klout more recently changed how the calculate the scores for their clients, and this in turn, resulted in lower scores for many. In essence, if the online social media rating system was dropping, then your effectiveness was, well, ineffective.

Social media doesn’t operate in a vacuum and the fact that Klout has taken the interactions and winnowed them down to one win or lose, live or die score needs to be examined. There are other values that Klout doesn’t take into consideration – the overflow effect that social media has, and how connectivity operates outside the social media world. For some, this is still a crucial part of doing business.

Going back to Yellow Goat Design’s marketing efforts, one can see where they are prevalent in trade shows and publications. They have been published in numerous magazine articles, which is effective, since their lighting designs are highly enticing, visual treats for the eye – ideal fodder for the print world. Numerous? See their ‘print clout’ below:

But they’ve taken this and placed in on their Pinterest boards, crossing between live events, print and promotional efforts (remember those cookies?) all of which makes their online presence breath, and projects their essence without the ‘who’s been bad’ score that Klout upholds. Given that, Yellow Goat Design delivers their own unique brand of lighting on all levels.

Google’s new offices, Chicago, home of a former cold storage facility with YDG lighting installation featured.

Lessons Learned: Start small, but there’s no limit to thinking big. Internet has allowed small, local companies to expand to a global level.

Multi pronged approach nets multi tiered effect. By being prevalent in print, social media and trade shows, companies can remain competitive and connect effectively across all platforms. This is particular true if the product is highly visual.

Humor catches the eye of the beholder. All work and no play makes Jane/Joe a dull one. By injecting a capricious goat into the mix, the opportunity is there for more photo ops, client interaction and notoriety.

Measure metrics, but continue efforts. Work to include an analytical measurement of business as excellent tool, but other efforts to interact and grow business cannot be forgotten.

Submitted By: Dianne McBride

To contact the author of this entry please email at: dianne@vivereltd.com

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Programme Director, Social Media for Business Performance.